The Blood Ranger
by TiberiusEngle
Summary: It's been almost ten years since Tommy Oliver lost friends and retired. Moving out to the country to raise his children, he always expected his past would catch up to them, but not the ghost of a deceased ranger on a murder spree. Now Tommy must reunite with the surviving members to discover what is really going on before millions of innocent lives are lost.


**1**

He woke suddenly, sweat slicking his chest and his heartbeat was as swift as his breathing.

"It's okay Tommy." mumbled his wife with a reassuring squeeze to his forearm. She was used to this by now and scarcely stirred.

I'm going to check on the kids." Tommy replied, still panting.

"What time is it?"

Tommy glanced at the digital clock beside the old communicator that hadn't beeped for almost a decade. Old habits were as hard to break as bad memories were to forget. "6:30"

His wife groaned "I should get up."

"Nah don't worry about it. They're probably awake already anyway."

Tommy rolled out of bed and grabbed a white t-shirt off the floor. He pulled it on over his head and exited their bedroom, carefully closing the door behind him. He crept down the hall and passed shelves filled with dusty martial arts trophies he stopped polishing years ago. He paused at a large picture hanging beside his wife's gymnastic trophies. It was of all of his old friends taken at his Uncle's Cabin on the sole occasion where they had all come together at once. Jason, Kimberly, Billy, Kat, Aisha, Trini, Zach, Rocky, Adam all smiled back at him. Now almost half of them were dead. To his left, around the narrow hallway which led to the living room he heard the quiet laughter of children getting themselves into trouble.

As Tommy entered the living room and was greeted by his daughter running and hugging his leg. "Daddy!"

"Hey Kat!." Tommy smiled and scooped the girl up in his arms. Kat began tracing the lines of his tattoos as she always did and Tommy glanced over at his son leaning over the back of the couch and peering out the window. "What is it Jason?"

"Dad there's a car coming." Jason answered.

"What?" Tommy asked, panic rising. He placed Kat down and moved quickly toward the window. He parted the blinds with his right index finger to look outside. His son had been right, a large SUV painted all black with tinted windows which hid the occupants kicked up a trail of dust as it sped down the dirt road to their isolated home.

Tommy sprinted back to his room and shoved the door open. The blanketed lump of his wife jumped and looked in his direction. "Kim! A truck is coming."

"What?" Kimberly asked already getting out of bed and putting shoes on.

"I don't know who it is." Tommy replied. "The windows are tinted."

Tommy reached above the door frame where a samurai sword hung and unsheathed it.

"Daddy?" Kat squeaked. "Is everything okay?"

"Go to your rooms and lock the door. don't open it for any reason until you hear the code." Tommy replied.

His children nodded and moved to comply. Their kids knew who they'd been before and understood why a code was necessary. They heard the story of Ivan Ooze, a morphological being who could impersonate anyone. As many terrifying things he and Kim had faced, what disturbed him most was knowing that anything was possible and he was aware of just how little he knew.

Tommy rushed out of the house and stood in their driveway and readied the sword. In moments Kim was beside him as she had been countless times before. There was an intensity in her eyes which made her just as fierce in flannel pajama pants and a sweatshirt as she had been in pink. As the car neared Kim knocked an arrow on her bow and leveled the bow at the vehicle.

The truck slammed on its brakes and skidded to a stop about fifteen yards away. The driver's door opened slowly and a man with short hair wearing a suit stepped out. He held his arms above his head, facing his palms in their direction.

"Any sudden movements and I put an arrow through your eye!" Kim yelled, pulling the string more taut.

"Mr and Mrs. Oliver I'm sorry to drop in on you like this. My name is Michael and I'm here on behalf of the U.S - "

"We're retired." Tommy interrupted. "We don't need your money and whatever the crisis is we don't care. We just want to be left alone. We're done cleaning up your people's messes."

"I understand that, and out of respect for your past services we hadn't planned on calling on you again. But this is something you should be made aware of."

"Get to the point." Kim said.

"It's about Jason."

"Jason is dead!" Tommy yelled, suppressing the memories which always lurked on the edge of consciousness, trying to push him over the precipice to madness. "Trini and Kat too!"

"Jason isn't dead." Michael replied.

"We were both with him when he died. We buried him. What you're saying is impossible."

Michael laughed.

"Something funny?" Kim asked lifting one finger off the bow string.

"The fact that you still think something is impossible after all that you both have seen. You yourselves brought Zordon back from the dead." Michael responded retreating a step. "Please, can we talk inside?"

"No." Tommy and Kim snapped simultaneously.

Michael sighed. "A few days ago there was a peace summit with representatives from Russia, North Korea, China, Israel, and the U.S. It was interrupted by an assassin. He killed everyone there but our ambassadors. naturally they are blaming the US and we are on the brink of war, a war that we will not only lose, but will claim the lives of millions of innocents and cost the planet dearly. We are all standing waist deep in oil, holding matches waiting for the others to drop them and start nuclear war."

"What does this have to do with Jason or us?" Kim asked.

"Jason was the assassin. I have proof in my pocket."

"Slowly." Tommy threatened pressing the blade's edge against Michael's neck and

piercing flesh.

Michael nodded and reached into his left jacket pocket with his right hand. He produced a small, rectangular device. Cranston Inc. was carved into the bottom of the smooth metal.

"Billy's?" Tommy asked.

"Yes. A new prototype that we bought early access too before he releases it to the public." Michael replied.

Michael pressed some switch that Tommy couldn't see and placed the device in his outstretched palm. A small circle opened to what looked like a

lens and an image was projected above. It appeared to be security footage from a timestamp in the corner which read August 25th 2016, four days ago.

There was a flash of red that collided with a guard who dropped to the ground with his neck snapped. An alarm went out and gunfire erupted. Tommy felt chills down his arms, neck and spine. He was looking at a crimson ghost with a familiar tyrannosaurus helmet. The battle continued and Tommy watched the apparition cleave through the remaining guards. Bullets had no effect on the power suit, he knew from personal experience in past dubious operations he had participated in for the U.S.

"I know what you're thinking. This could be anyone." Michael suggested.

"No." Kimberly said, echoing his thoughts.

It was Jason, the movements were an exact match as well as the voice. After the recorded slaughters the red ranger removed his helmet and walked toward the mounted camera. Jason smiled into the lens, swung his sword towards them and the picture ended.

The three stood in silence until it was uncomfortable. Tommy knew they would have to investigate how Jason was brought back, by whom, and for what purpose. Especially if his actions were jeopardizing the lives of millions who they had fought to protect.

"Michael, Kim and I need to discuss this privately."

"Of course. Here." Michael handed them a small business card with a phone number on it. "Let me know what you guys decide. As soon as possible please."

Michael returned to his vehicle and began to climb in. He looked back at them one last time. "May the Power protect you."


End file.
